Production Staff

E Ho‘omau! Production Staff Bios
April, 2012

Ormond Hammond

Project Director, Executive Producer

Dr. Ormond Hammond is the Project Director and Executive Producer of E Ho‘omau! at PREL. Dr. Hammond also has served as PREL’s Director of Planning and Executive Director of the Center for Accountability, Research, and Evaluation. With more than 30 years of experience in designing and delivering strategic planning, research, and program evaluation services, Dr. Hammond has taught and conducted training and technical assistance throughout the Pacific region.

Before joining PREL, Dr. Hammond served as the principal investigator of the Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment project, one of the seminal pieces of research on the educational needs of Native Hawaiians. Dr. Hammond received his bachelor’s degree in social relations from Harvard University and his master’s degree and PhD in psychology from the University of Hawai‘i. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California-Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Hawai‘i.

Michael Q. Ceballos

Creative Producer/ Director

Mr. Michael Q. Ceballos has worked as a leader in the animation, design, and game industry for 20 years. Among his many diverse projects, there are a few notable highlights. At Nickelodeon, he honed his skills on the cult hit, The Angry Beavers, as lead character designer and supervisor. He also worked with legendary film producer Robert Evans, who produced, The Godfather and Chinatown, on his animated biographic show for comedy central, Kid Notorious. Most recently, Michael art directed and cowrote two RPG educational games for struggling 4th grade readers at PREL in Honolulu, entitled Cosmos Chaos!™ for the Nintendo DS system.

Mr. Ceballos continues to bring his unique vision to PREL, as creative producer and animation director on the E Ho‘omau! project where he leads a team of both new and seasoned artists and animators to create visually rich, animated versions of traditional Hawaiian stories. In addition to his artistic duties on E Ho‘omau!, Michael also wrote storylines, produced the graphic designs for the program’s 12 text sets and graphic novels, and created the visual details for the E Ho‘omau! web site.

Ellen Miyasato

Curriculum Developer

Ms. Ellen Miyasato is the Curriculum Developer for E Ho‘omau!. Her work focuses on the development of the science, literacy, and cultural content for E Ho‘omau! She has also led the development, implementation, and field study of the program curriculum.

Ms. Miyasato has provided professional training in curriculum development and the application of information telecommunications. Recent projects with PREL have included designing and developing material, resources, and services to implement a variety of programs in Hawai‘i and PREL’s regional areas of service. She coordinated the technology plan revision for the Guam Department of Education, collaborated on lessons for the JUMP Into Reading for Meaning project and developed content for the project’s website, helped to develop a multimedia institute in Palau, and facilitated professional training for the Zip Zoom English reading program for English language learners. Prior to her work with PREL, Ms. Miyasato worked extensively with schools in the Hawai‘i Department of Education to provide technical assistance in educational technology.

Kaira Resch

Line Producer

Ms. Kaira Resch is currently Manager of Communications at PREL with more than 15 years of experience, working on everything from feature films, documentaries, and advertising to early DVD production, interactive websites, video games, and traditional animation. For the past 8 years, Ms. Resch has developed and produced media for educational purposes.

As Line Producer for E Ho‘omau! she handled all logistics and scheduling of production activities, from finding and casting voice talent to contracts and budget management.

Bryson Luke

Animator/ Designer

Mr. Bryson Luke is a recent graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and is also a Kamehameha Schools alumnus. He served on the E Ho‘omau! production staff as a designer/animator, where his talents helped to bring to life the three classic Hawaiian stories. At PREL, Mr. Luke started out as an intern on the JUMP Into Reading for Meaning (JUMP) project, which produced the Cosmos Chaos!™ video game.

Keikio'ewa Ka'opua

Cultural Advisor / Story Consultant

Mr. Keikio‘ewa Ka‘ōpua is a Hawaiian Culture Specialist for Kamehameha Schools. The E Ho‘omau! production staff was honored and pleased that, through a collaborative arrangement, Mr. Ka‘ōpua was able to work with them on the E Ho‘omau! project as Cultural Consultant.

Mr. Ka‘ōpua is has been involved in Hawaiian education for the past 24 years, for the Department of Education in the Hawaiian Studies (kupuna) Program and the Hawaiian Immersion Program, at Waiau Elementary, as co-founder and teacher of Ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau LPCS, co-project lead for the Ho‘olaupa‘i Hawaiian Newspaper Resource project at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, and as university level Hawaiian language instructor at Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa.

Lee Cataluna

Scriptwriter

Ms. Lee Cataluna has been a journalist in Hawai‘i for 20 years. She wrote an award-winning documentary on Hurricane Iniki. She is also a playwright with 10 produced plays to her credit. Her book Folks You Meet in Longs® and Other Stories was published by Bamboo Ridge Press in 2005. Her novel Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa was released fall 2011. She is a graduate student at the University of California-Riverside Palm Desert’s MFA Creative Writing program. Ms. Cataluna wrote the scripts for all three E Ho‘omau! stories.

Matthew Kawika Ortiz

Storyboard Artist

Mr. Matthew Kawika Ortiz is a Hawai‘i-based artist who specializes in storyboards, illustration, graphic design, and printmaking. Mr. Ortiz recently illustrated the children’s book Mohala Mai ‘o Hau, which was awarded the bronze medal for the 2010 international Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and a Ka Palapala Po‘okela award nominee. He is the co-founder and artistic director for the clothing line Vers Hawai‘i. Mr. Ortiz created the storyboards for all three E Ho‘omau! films.

About E Ho‘omau!

E Ho‘omau! (to persevere; to learn from the past and perpetuate the good) is a culturally rich curriculum development project funded under the Native Hawaiian Education Program of the U.S. Department of Education.

Contact PREL

E Ho‘omau! Grant Disclaimer

The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.